Walt Disney Company’s focus never veers from making people happy. Its entire operations reflect this service concept—from the design of its rides, characters (staff), and the vibes from ubiquitous festive music and themes.

A good friend’s daughter left her teddy bear at a Disney Resort, otherwise a catastrophe for a four-year-old. But Disney has toy rescue operations and her bear was found under the bed and sent overnight to her home. When she looked out her window at some point the next, there was a special delivery. Inside a package with her name on it was her bear, nestled comfortably in stuffing. And all heartache melted away.

A cynic might attribute Disney’s bear handling to clever branding. But this simple gesture is much more; if done right, branding should roll up under a service concept in support. The service concept should be the purpose for the organization and guide goal setting and objectives. The service concept is why consumers attach themselves to brands, and why non-profit members join and engage.

Five requirements for a service concept:

Sum of the organization’s purpose, or aspirational;

Have meaning, be easily understood;

Credible and feasible;

Be appropriate throughout organization;

Capable of lasting.

A service concept that meets those requirements will serve as a barometer for evaluating new ideas and determining programs and services that no longer fit.

See if you can guess the service concept for Southwest Airlines: On their website home page reads: “Southwest has been in LUV with our Customers from the very beginning. We began service to San Antonio and Houston from ‘Love’ Field in Dallas. As our company and customers grew, our LUV grew too with the prettiest flight attendants serving ‘Love Bites’ and tickets issued from our ‘Love Machines.’ Our LUV has spread from coast to coast and border to border.” And, the company’s stock ticker symbol is LUV.

Steven Slater

Steven has spent decades in the service industry, aligned to building programs (services) for membership organizations, consumer brands, professional services, and, public agencies and non-profits reach the general public or specific demographics. Steven has a Master’s in Marketing Sciences (MBA program) from the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University; a Master’s in Arts in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University; a Bachelor’s of Arts in International Relations and Communications from Syracuse University; and an International Baccalaureate from the International School of Geneva, Switzerland.

Steven J. Slater is an author and trainer. He has spent decades building and improving lines of service (LOS) for non-profits, commercial industries and public sector-governmental organizations. He now dedicates his time helping organizations implement Service Design.